The Fear. The Purpose. The Future. (cont'd)
But even more than the importance of language,
safety and ease is getting the message
to our future – Latino children. The largest
demographic of school aged children in
this country, many Latino children hold key
roles in their families as interpreters so it is
essential to have a child reassure their parents
of the survey’s importance.
“[Latinos are] the highest percentage of the
youth population and the biggest percentage
of them are born here so it is our future
that we’re talking about,” says Riojas. “But
we have the parents who are responding to
[the survey] and I think being able to basically
relay, ‘if you’re reporting on this it will
ensure that we’ve got good schools in your
area for your kids.’ I think for most parents
that would probably be enough for them to
say ‘ok I’ll respond to it.’ But it has to be
done in a meaningful way and here is where
for Latino parents nothing is more important
then our children – nothing.”
The Census in Schools program is called 2010 Census: It’s About Us and it will provide educators with resources to teach the nation’s students about the importance of the census so children can help deliver this message to their families. The program will engage America’s youth to help ensure every child and every household member is counted in 2010.
With age-specific educational materials
from students in kindergarten through 12th
grade the Census in Schools program provides
maps displaying population counts and
other demographic information, lesson plans
grouped by grade and correlated to national
standards for math, geography and language
arts. Materials that integrate census information
with social studies and community participation
also will be available.
But the program doesn’t stop there. Kits
for principals containing maps, a Census in
Schools program brochure, information about
online lessons, quick-start teaching guides
and family take-home kits are also included.
Lastly, there will be online resources for
teachers and even opportunities to discuss
and practice civic responsibility through five
15-minute lessons, available online, during a
Census in Schools Week celebration.
“The important message that parents are
sending to their children [when they fill out
the survey] is that we are a nation of laws and
when they see their parents following the law
what you’re helping to instill is a law abiding
citizen,” advises Riojas. “Ultimately you’re
helping to build a good citizen and in spite of
the fear tactics and everything else, we can
use this as a way to build constructively towards
good citizenship.”
Not to be cliché but the children are our
future and if Latino children make up the
greatest demographic then these lessons will
be vital for tomorrow’s survey takers. After all
messages to sway people away from the fear
of government is what these programs are all
about. Getting the word out is the next step in
making sure that all those that reside in this
country can be counted.
It is unfortunate but due to some of the media’s
negative portrayal of undocumented workers
and the push for tougher immigration laws
these outlets can confirm the fear that many
Latinos live in. Whether it be a family member
who is undocumented or you yourself, seeing
lines of Latinos mistreated and deported
on the news, in the papers, and even online
doesn’t add any reassurance to your place in
this country.
Araceli held down a job for seven years and
aside from using the fake social security number
to hold her job at Panda express she was
never involved in any kind of illegal transactions
but yet she was cast as not fit to live
in this country because she is not a citizen – even though her daughter is.
“Unfortunately what has happened over the past decade is that the seeds for distrust have been planted and many of those seeds of distrust have been planted and sown by other other members of the media,” says Hinojosa. “So it’s now certain members of the media who we have to work double, triple or quadruple overtime to reach out to this population that now feels, because they’ve seen what has happened over the past decade, that they are in fact a target.”
This is why the Census has developed
an Integrated Communications Campaign
(ICC) that includes paid media to
make the 2010 Census the most pervasive
message everywhere, especially
during the mail-out/mail-back phase in
March and April 2010. The Plan was created
with the work of eight partner media
agencies, targets 14 languages/audiences
and will reach into every market across
the U.S. and Puerto Rico. It encompasses
all media types and is skewed towards
those segments of the populations that
are considered hard to count (HTC) like
the Bronx, New York where the majority
is Latino.
“In reality the media that’s reaching out to the Latino community specifically with the issue of ‘trust the government worker that’s going to be knocking at your door’ we have a very tall order in the year 2009 and 2010 to make that happen,” add Hinojosa. “So the certain elements of the mainstream media that had their own interests for fermenting an anti-immigrant, anti-Latino tendency on their airways have created a situation where now people are afraid. They’re afraid across the board and specifically when you talk about institutions or government representatives or someone official the fear is compounded. So it’s a very unfortunate thing that again those of us, the Latino media are having to work overtime to undo the work that the other members of the media have created.”
But with all the information out there
in several different languages and 
adaptable
to disabilities it would not be at our
best interest to ignore the survey when
it arrives in the mail next year. The head
of the household is the one who should
fill out the survey and include everyone
that is residing there. We can make a
difference but we must be counted. A
perfect example of that was the election
of President Barack Obama. As a nation
we came together and elected our first
African American President of the United
States. Our next President could very well
be Latino. The future is in our hands.
“We talk about easy, safe and important
but we don’t tie that in as it is a part of
our role. It is in the interest of the future
of this country to make sure we’ve got an
accurate count of every person who’s living
here,” concludes Riojas. “The projection
that by 2040 or by 2025 is that 1 out
of every 4 people in this country will be
Spanish speaking. With all our faults [as a
nation] its still a land of opportunity. This
is a small step that we take in ensuring
that those privileges and rights are going
to be available to all of the people but we
can’t say all of the people if we’re excluding
ourselves from this count.”
To learn more visit 2010census.gov
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ULM Podcast